Friday, March 29, 2013

The Keys to Creating a Foreign Language Program

I originally founded Global Language Project in 2009, after having
traveled for my work in different corporate contexts and having lived in Paris
on my own. In my travels, I realized the extent to which young people in
different parts of the world, from Asia to Europe, were proficient in a
language other than their native one, and how this knowledge afforded them much
greater access to educational and professional opportunities. This realization
prompted me to begin GLP’s pilot program at PS368-Hamilton Heights School in
Harlem, New York. We began with offering Mandarin and Spanish to elementary age
students, and now we offer Spanish, Mandarin, French, and Arabic to over 840 students
throughout New York.

There have been many reasons behind our organization’s ongoing success,
and while we are still a work-in-progress, we have found that one of the most
challenging and yet most productive topic that we have addressed with GLP
supporters is how to practically set up your own foreign language program in a
public school environment. This summer, at
the Partnership for Afterschool Education’s Annual Conference, I will be
speaking about the pragmatic ways that educators can set up their own foreign
language programs, with an eye toward thinking closely about their program
budgets, curricula, and how to measure student language proficiency.

In our workshop, participants will learn about the multiple steps
involved in setting up a program, from picking an appropriate language to employing
certain fundraising practices and strategies. We hope that participants will
walk away with a better consideration of the following factors to consider when
establishing a program: the purpose for why you would like to offer a
particular language to students; the most feasible schedule for the program to
take place; the type of curriculum that would be best suited to enable student
proficiency in the language ; the ideal types of instructors you see executing
the curriculum; and general strategies for how to fundraise through both
corporate, foundation, university, and individual partnerships. It is our pleasure to share the lessons we
have learned over the past few years in hopes of increasing language learning
opportunities for more children!